


Your Life and Mine

by psyraah



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Major Character Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-09-20 15:35:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9498617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psyraah/pseuds/psyraah
Summary: It is simple: Shiro cannot lose Keith. Not after everything, all that they've been through, and not when Shiro's life is so inexorably tied to Keith's own.But with the battles that they face every day, he might not get a say in the matter.





	

**Author's Note:**

> For Sheith Week Day 3: One Last Time. Hope you enjoy! Warnings for blood and injuries.

The blast rocks their communications.

Shiro flinches, and he hears the cries of surprise from the others over the comms. Then panic hits when they realise where exactly the explosion came from.

“Keith!” Shiro roars. “Pidge!”

Nothing.

Nothing but smoke rising from the building that Keith and Pidge had been infiltrating. Nothing but babble from Hunk and Lance, the tense voices of Allura and Coran. “Keith, Pidge, come in,” he says desperately. He continues circling low with Black, as had been agreed. But no, now they need extraction. “Hunk, Lance, let’s get down there.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Coran and I will provide you cover,” Allura says, voice steely. “Be safe.”

“Roger that, let’s—”

A crash, and a roar.

Below them, on the planet’s surface, both the red and green lions are clawing at the ground, bellowing their rage. Not a good sign.

“Let’s hurry,” he says, heart in his throat as he urges Black faster. “Keith, Pidge,” he repeats, and then—

Pidge’s voice hoarse and panicked over the comms. “Guys, hurry!”

“Pidge! What’s happening?”

“They’ve got us pinned down, I can’t hold them off for much longer!”

“Hold on, we’re coming. Is Keith with you?”

Silence, and Shiro’s heart skips a beat. “Yeah,” Pidge says eventually. “He’s in bad shape.”

Shiro’s heart stops entirely. His blood runs cold, and he’s numb. Pidge’s words have meaning, but surely—surely not. “Keith—”

Pidge cries out. “You guys better get down here!”

“We’re coming,” Lance says, voice grave. “Just hang on, Pidge.”

The lions thud to the earth, and Shiro’s out immediately, arm already glowing. His heart is _pounding_ as he sprints towards the smoking entrance of the building. Behind him, Lance and Hunk’s footsteps echo, their breaths harsh in the comms as they follow Shiro.

“Guys, we’re—” The sound of blasters, but they’re getting closer now—it isn’t just screaming through the comms, but Shiro can actually hear it now. “Guys we’re doing bad, _hurry_!”

Then they’re inside, and there are alarms whining as they sprint down the hallways. “We’re coming, we’re coming.” Pidge is grunting with effort and fear, and the fact that Keith hasn’t said a word is terrifying.

If Shiro listens closely, he thinks he can hear a rasping breath. A soft moan, a gasp of pain.

If Shiro listens closely, he thinks he’ll lose his mind.

Shiro finds Pidge as soon as he rounds the corner.

Drones pouring fire at a solitary figure, shield deflecting, bayard like green lightning as it darts between any opening it can find. With a roar, Shiro charges—Lance’s blaster takes out two of them in quick succession, Hunk’s a third. Before the drones even notice the new enemy, Shiro’s on them.

Then it’s just a blur of colour, because Shiro can’t _think_. He’s fighting through blind panic with the lights sparking alarm and terror—the green electricity of Pidge’s bayard, the blue flashes from Hunk and Lance’s blasters, the glowing purple of his own arm. He fights for his life, as he has done so many times before, because these people are standing between him and _Keith_ , and if Keith isn’t all the life and love that Shiro knows, then what is?

When the last drone falls, Shiro turns to Pidge immediately. “Where’s Keith?”

“Right here, we gotta hurry.” She retracts her bayard, and ducks around a corner. Shiro follows and—

Blood.

So much blood. Dribbling along the bottom of Keith’s lip, trickling down his cheek, and worst of all, in horrible splashes, bright red against the white of his armour. The armour itself is cracked and charred, exposing the vulnerable skin beneath. Keith’s propped up against a wall, his hand clutching at his side, uselessly trying to slow the flow of blood.

“Keith,” Shiro breathes, horrified. He’s surprised he manages to talk, how his brain even manages to compute the words when it can’t figure out this reality, the one where Keith’s lying on the floor, hurt and dying—

( _no, please, anything but that_ )

Keith’s eyes flicker open for a moment, and Shiro sees the briefest spark when Keith lifts his head just slightly. Keith opens his mouth, but there’s just a horrible rasping sound before Shiro’s on his knees, tucking his arms around Keith’s body.

“It’s okay, don’t talk buddy.” Shiro’s voice sounds distant, and he—he can’t— _Keith_. Keith lets out another gargled sound, and it looks like he tries to lift his arm, but it just falls away pathetically. “Don’t move. We’ll get you out, it’s okay. You’ll be fine.” The words are as much for Shiro as the limp form of Keith that he carefully gathers in his arms.

And even with all his care, all his love, Keith lets out a horrible cry that has Shiro’s heart breaking.

“I’m sorry,” he says hoarsely, but he—he _has_ to move. He has to get Keith to safety, even if he shatters when Keith groans again as Shiro stands, lifting Keith’s boneless form in his arms. “I’m sorry, please, just—just stay with us, Keith. Stay with me.” There’s blood on Keith’s armour, smearing across Shiro’s own, as he starts rushing to the exit.

“We’re coming up,” he says. Keith’s not moving anymore. Keith’s not moving, Keith’s not moving, and Shiro—

Shiro can’t remember running back. He can’t remember the journey, can barely remember which lion he rides back in because both Black and Red are clamouring in his mind, folding his anger on their terror, their worry over his grief. He’s sobbing, he’s numb, he’s horrified and he _can’t live without Keith_. Not without his radiant smile, without his incredible fire, his hand in Shiro’s as they travel the universe. Keith is safety, is the solid foundation beneath Shiro’s feet.

Keith is his home.

Keith bleeds, and Shiro bleeds with him.

* * *

After that, it’s the wait.

The worry.

The loss.

Watching as Keith floats still and lifeless inside the cryo pod.

It’s all wrong. All of it. Keith is life and movement and fire, not this numb, distant quiet. It’s not Keith. He’s _lost_ Keith already, and the terror that it might last forever, that this quiet will never cease chills him to the bone, shivers down his nerves.

Pidge tells them, in the quiet, her voice hollow and broken, how they had almost been out when the drones had caught up. How neither of them had noticed, until the last moment, that the enemy was upon them. Then, how Keith shoved her behind himself, deflected one shot, and a second, both of them shooting up to the ceiling to bring the building down on the first wave of drones, before two blasts found their mark on the red paladin’s armour.

Shiro shudders as Pidge’s words falter, and he buries his face against his knees, tucks it against his _useless_ hands that couldn’t save Keith.

They wait.

They worry.

He aches with the loss.

Then—then the liquid drains. The pod empties, and they all hold their breath.

Keith blinks his eyes open, and Shiro’s heart finally unfurls.

“Look who’s awake!” Lance announces, and despite the boisterousness, there’s relief in his voice.

Then they’re all clamouring towards him, all of them laughing and grinning and Hunk wrapping his arms around all them. Gathering around Keith, who’s grumbling at the attention, but he’s smiling.

All of them, except Shiro.

Keith’s smiling, and Shiro can breathe again. He can clear his lungs of the horrible black smog that had been choking him, finally draw the clean and beautiful back into his chest.

But then Keith’s eyes land on Shiro.

And he’s waving the others away, fussing until Hunk places them all back down.

Steps towards Shiro.

Shiro’s hands are shaking.

He clenches them to stop the trembling, gulps down a breath to stop his heart from pounding. Neither of those things work.

“Shiro.”

At his name, Shiro breaks.

He surges forward, gathers Keith in his arms, presses his face to his hair, breathes him in and the life back into his lungs. Keith is warm and _real_ in his arms, not that horrible, terrifying cold and quiet. Keith is fire and love and safety, and Shiro is _home_.

He’s babbling, nonsense words, his love choking him, rolling off his tongue. “Keith,” is what he says first. Then, “Keith.” Just says his name over, and over, tastes it because he didn’t think that he would ever have the chance again. “Don’t do that again. Please,” he begs. “Please, I can’t—don’t go, don’t go. Don’t go.”

“I won’t, Shiro,” Keith says, rough in his ear, and his voice is a gift. His arms are tight around Shiro’s waist, and it’s a miracle Shiro thought he’d never have again.

“I’m never letting you out of my sight again,” Shiro says, and it chokes him. “Never. That was the last time, Keith.”

“We can’t pilot the same lion,” Keith says, and there’s a laugh in there. But also softness, because Keith’s been here before, knows grief too well.

“Doesn’t matter,” Shiro says stubbornly, and he’s shaking. “I don’t care what we can do, because _I_ can’t—I can’t do that again. I can’t lose you.”

“You won’t,” Keith promises. “You won’t, you won’t. You’ve always got me.”

Keith’s back. The image of Keith’s bloodied body will remain with him, but for now Keith is back. Keith is back, and that’s all that Shiro needs, forever, and always.

**Author's Note:**

> I feel odd about this one, so comments and kudos would be very reassuring! Can also be shared on [ twitter ](https://twitter.com/starchydreams/status/825635163006644226) and [tumblr](http://psytrron.tumblr.com/post/156525804784/the-hurtcomfort-weve-all-been-waiting-for)!! Please also come chat to me about my sheithy feelings ;-;


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